I. Field of Use
The present invention relates to the field of theft prevention devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for securing sports board fins associated with various kinds of sports boards, such as surfboards, wakeboards, and the like, to the sports board.
II. Description of the Related Art
The sport of surfing has gained in popularity in the United States and abroad over the past several years. It is estimated that there are currently 3.5 million people who enjoy surfing in the United States alone. In most cases, surfboards are transported to the ocean on top of a car via roof racks or in the bed of a pickup truck. The typical method of securing surfboards to car top roof racks is by a canvas or rubber straps.
One of the disadvantages of transporting surfboards via motor vehicle is that few vehicles are large enough to transport surfboards inside. Consequently, most people transport surfboards external to their vehicles. There exists removable or permanent roof-top racks for automobiles whereby one or more surfboards can be secured for transport. Individuals owning pickup trucks can simply place their surfboard(s) in the bed of the pickup truck.
One disadvantage of transporting large objects such as surfboards external to a vehicle is that they are highly visible and therefore attract thieves when an owner leaves the surfboard unattended. These large objects are difficult to secure against theft due to their large size and unibody construction. Most roof racks today do not have a way to lock the surfboard securely to the vehicle. In most cases, elastic straps are all that is used to secure the surfboard to the vehicle. These are quickly and easily removed by thieves.
One solution to this problem is disclosed in a pending United States patent application belonging to the inventor of the present patent application, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Securing an Object to a Vehicle”. This application describes an adjustable shackle that is secured to a vehicle roof rack, or to the bed of a pickup truck. A sports board is secured to the vehicle by placing the board through the adjustable shackle and then adjusting the shackle to fit snugly against the sides of the board. The board is prevented from being removed from the adjustable shackle by the contour of the board and by fins, bindings, or other physical constraint, typically attached to the board.
The patent application described above also describes a fin guard used in conjunction with the adjustable shackle. The fin guard is designed to prevent removal of a surfboard fin by covering hardware used to attach the fin and wedging between a surface of the board and an inside portion of the adjustable shackle.
One of the features of the fin guard described in the patent application described above is that the fin guard is most effective when the fin is in close proximity to the adjustable shackle. However, as the length of a surfboard increases, this fin guard becomes less effective because the fins are located further and further away from the adjustable shackle when the sports board is secured in place. In turn, the fin guard of the patent application described above may not be long enough to cover the fin mounting hardware and also to wedge between the board and the adjustable shackle.
Another problem with the fin guard described in the patent application described above is that it may not be able to prevent fin removal of some newer fin designs that have been recently introduced into the marketplace. The newer fin removal systems allow a fin to be removed from a surfboard without any type of locking hardware. These fins can be removed simply by prying them out of the “fin box”, rather than being secured by locking hardware.
What is needed, therefore, is an apparatus to prevent a surfboard fin from being removed from a surfboard, no mater what the board length, and no matter what type of fin mounting arrangement is used. Ideally, the apparatus could be used in conjunction with the adjustable locking mechanism described in the patent application described above.